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Haley will take the deep passes out of his playbook if Batch starts this Sunday, there's really no point in even trying to get the ball to Wallace deep.

And not being able to throw deep is no death sentence. You can still win if you don't have a deep threat. It makes it a little more difficult to rush the ball and throw short, as the field shrinks for the D and they have less ground to defend. But we didn't really have a deep threat with O'Donnell and Kordel - not because they lacked the arm strength, but they just weren't very good at going deep and/or didn't have the WRs to do it. Charlie can throw the medium cross patterns and they can still work. If Brown is back, that will help the success of the medium crossing routes with YACs to move the ball. But, who am I kidding? Balt. at home is gonna be far too much to beat in my opinion. They are a juggernaut at home and we are in a very weakened state.

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May 2008

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3,655

Not showing you can go vertical and not being able to do it are two different things. Playcalling is impacted. Batch can't not only go downfield, but he can't throw the out. There is no zip on the intermediate and his ball can be broke on. That is very bad news between the hashes. WRs are going to take hits...Passes will be defended more...And Ints are waiting to happen. Balls behind are a good sign of a dead arm and that is what I see.

When the Steelers show 21, 22, 12, 13 personnel the Ravens are going to call the defense to the personnel grouping not down & distance. The call will be simple. Single high S, man across the board, & run blitz. CBS Play inside out to take away slant & Jump the out route. Because of the run blitz, Batch may not have enough time to set up and even hit a wide open RB that snuck out in the PA. A smart DC would uncommit the ILB from the RBs off of PA and zone blitz dropping out a DE to the side of the RB release. Ravens actually do that alot. An ILB gets a free run on the QB off of PA and hits him even before he plants his back foot off the fake. The OL who should have picked up the ILB attacks a DL who is dropping out. We have all seen the play. One of our OL standing there with nobody to block looking around as BB is on his A$$. It is a nightmare scenario with Batch & the Ravens because Batch is not capable of making that guy miss or step up and make a play.

So what can the Steelers do to counter? Go 10 or 11 personnel to get them in nickel & dime. Great! Again...1 S & Send 1 more than we could block and squat on the intermediate routes in front of the chains. Yep...Batch is good for 3+ Ints again. <COUGH> Ed Reed. GOD I hope Hoyer has enough of the playbook down by the end of the week to be an option. This isn't the Browns offense. Our defense has been playing lights out but if We turn the ball over 3 or more times to the Ravens they will hang 30+ on us. 3 plays for negative yards & punt won't keep us in this game.

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Citing a source with knowledge of Ben Roethlisberger's injuries, ESPN's Bob Holtzman reported Wednesday that "right now there's less than a 50 percent chance" of Big Ben playing in Week 13.

Per Holtzman, Roethlisberger's dislocated rib remains his "biggest issue," and Big Ben isn't convinced that he can throw the football effectively enough to play against the Ravens. The Steelers are still allowing Roethlisberger to "push himself" through practice, and see how his body responds. Holtzman notes that both of Big Ben's injuries -- his sprained shoulder and rib dislocation -- have a "very high risk of reinjury" should Roethlisberger return too soon.

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Originally Posted by JUST-PLAIN-NASTY

Not showing you can go vertical and not being able to do it are two different things. Playcalling is impacted. Batch can't not only go downfield, but he can't throw the out. There is no zip on the intermediate and his ball can be broke on. That is very bad news between the hashes. WRs are going to take hits...Passes will be defended more...And Ints are waiting to happen. Balls behind are a good sign of a dead arm and that is what I see.

When the Steelers show 21, 22, 12, 13 personnel the Ravens are going to call the defense to the personnel grouping not down & distance. The call will be simple. Single high S, man across the board, & run blitz. CBS Play inside out to take away slant & Jump the out route. Because of the run blitz, Batch may not have enough time to set up and even hit a wide open RB that snuck out in the PA. A smart DC would uncommit the ILB from the RBs off of PA and zone blitz dropping out a DE to the side of the RB release. Ravens actually do that alot. An ILB gets a free run on the QB off of PA and hits him even before he plants his back foot off the fake. The OL who should have picked up the ILB attacks a DL who is dropping out. We have all seen the play. One of our OL standing there with nobody to block looking around as BB is on his A$$. It is a nightmare scenario with Batch & the Ravens because Batch is not capable of making that guy miss or step up and make a play.

So what can the Steelers do to counter? Go 10 or 11 personnel to get them in nickel & dime. Great! Again...1 S & Send 1 more than we could block and squat on the intermediate routes in front of the chains. Yep...Batch is good for 3+ Ints again. <COUGH> Ed Reed. GOD I hope Hoyer has enough of the playbook down by the end of the week to be an option. This isn't the Browns offense. Our defense has been playing lights out but if We turn the ball over 3 or more times to the Ravens they will hang 30+ on us. 3 plays for negative yards & punt won't keep us in this game.

How bout we just roll 50 personnel?

Since Batch can't make any throw other than a checkdown to a RB, let's just load up the backfield. And maybe it would keep us from fumbling because the Ravens would never know who had the ball.

According to the highest office in the country, some "very fine people" marched with torches in a violent protest in Charlottesville, but participating in a non-violent protest on a football field means you are an S.O.B. who should be fired.

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Originally Posted by SteelCrazy

Chemistry with the receivers? Pap, you have lost your mind! It was evident Sunday that Batch had Zero chemistry with our WR's. Hopefully Batch just had a bad game and plays better because thats all we can hope for if Ben doesnt play.

Well, then with Hoyer receivers might run a hook and Hoyer throws the out for a pick 6. He looked bad, but starting a gut who's been in town for less than two weeks is folly, IMO. If Batch and the receivers weren't on the same page, then Hoyer and the receivers wouldn't even be reading the same book.

Pappy

The referee said that you hit Brian Sipe too hard. Did you hit him too hard?
I hit him as hard as I could - Jack Lambert

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Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was able to practice in a limited fashion on Wednesday, keeping hope alive that he’ll be able to play against the Ravens in Baltimore this Sunday.

Getting back to work didn’t leave Roethlisberger with any better idea of whether or not that will happen, however. Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Roethlisberger said Thursday that he’s still uncertain about his ability to play. Per Roethlisberger, the decision will be based on his arm strength and only his arm strength because he isn’t currently having any other problems that will keep him from playing.

With one more day of practice to go on Friday before the Steelers have to decide on Roethlisberger’s injury report designation and no real reason to announce anything too long before the start of the game, there’s a good chance we’ll go into the weekend without knowing the identity of the Steelers quarterback.

While Roethlisberger isn’t concerned about the rib injury that contributed to his absence, he will be taking some extra precautions if he does play. Kaboly reports that he’ll have extra padding around his rib/heart area that will include Kevlar to protect against re-injury to the rib he dislocated.

According to the highest office in the country, some "very fine people" marched with torches in a violent protest in Charlottesville, but participating in a non-violent protest on a football field means you are an S.O.B. who should be fired.

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Originally Posted by papillon

Well, then with Hoyer receivers might run a hook and Hoyer throws the out for a pick 6. He looked bad, but starting a gut who's been in town for less than two weeks is folly, IMO. If Batch and the receivers weren't on the same page, then Hoyer and the receivers wouldn't even be reading the same book.

Pappy

It wouldn't be very different from Charlie starting, except Hoyer probably has a stronger arm...